Friday, July 14, 2017

3 Ways to Kill Your Publishing Career

Edie here. Today I'm excited to welcome back Jennifer Slattery. In addition to being an amazing author, she's an excellent teacher in the publishing industry. Since her new book, Healing Love, is about to release, I convinced her to drop back by with more insight into the writer's life.

3 Ways to Kill Your Publishing Careerby Jennifer Slattery @JenSlatteryPerhaps you’ve sensed God’s
call to write, maybe you even jumped in with passion and determination, fully
convinced He’d bring your every dream to pass. But that was ten, twenty, maybe
even more years ago, and you’re beginning to wonder, “Will I ever get published?
Will these thousands upon thousands of words clogging my computer files ever
see the light of day?”

I believe when God calls us
to do something, He’s got the how and the when mapped out. Though His idea of
what our writing career will look like may be different than ours, I fully
believe He’s able to perfect that which concerns us and that He always has our
best in mind.

Only He can answer whether
or not your surrender and perseverance will lead to a contract (or maybe the
birth of a ministry, or a thriving freelance career). But I can share some ways
to kill, or at least stagnate, your career.

1. Compare yourself and your
writing to everyone else.

One’s voice is one of the
most precious, most unique commodities a writer can possess, one I believe is
divinely orchestrated. It can also be difficult to discover, or perhaps I
should say, uncover. The only way we do so is through writing, and writing,
then writing some more until our muse loses her inhibitions, discovers her
identity, and becomes comfortable in her own verbiage. She’s a skittish,
insecure little thing, one who’ll run at the first provocation. Comparing her
with someone else will cause her to flee faster than an editor hovering over
her.

2. Feed bitterness

Often, this one comes as a
direct result of camping out in point number one. As we look about at what
everyone else is doing, or perhaps what God is doing for and through everyone
else, we can easily become frustrated and discontent. If we stay here, our
negative emotions can turn into resentment, and soon, bitterness takes hold.

This is a huge muse killer,
especially if you’re writing for and about Christ. And if, on the rare
occasion, your muse is the hardy kind and manages to push through, chances are
she’ll come out jaded.

You know that scowling,
bitter friend that plops down in the center of every party, spewing her
bitterness to anyone and everyone who’ll listen?

You know all those people
that run as soon as they see that friend coming?

No one wants to be around
someone who’s perpetually angry and offended, whether encountered in life or a
book.

3. Feed your pride

Pride can show up in various
ways, sometimes through self-elevation and boasting, but more often, through an
aversion to constructive criticism. When we balk or bristle at difficult
feedback, we show we’ve put our egos above our writing. We’re welcome to do
that, but guess who wins, at least, in the short term?

Our egos. Longterm, both our
writing and our egos lose. To thrive, we need to set our egos aside, put our
goals ahead of our momentarily bruised feelings, take a step back from our
writing, roll up our sleeves, and dig back in.

I don’t know where God plans
to take you and your writing or when He’ll get you there. But I do believe He
has a plan, one that’s blanketed in authenticity and humility, not comparison,
bitterness, and pride.Have you fallen into any of
these career-killing traps? Would you add anything to this list? Share your
thoughts (and encouragement!) with us in the comments below, because we can all
learn from one another.

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Author, speaker, and ministry leader
Jennifer Slattery writes for Crosswalk.com and is the managing and acquiring
editor for Guiding Light Women’s Fiction, an imprint with Lighthouse Publishing
of the Carolinas. She believes fiction has the power to transform lives and
change the culture. Healing Love is her sixth novel, and it was birthed during
a trip she and her family took to El Salvador that opened her eyes to the
reality of generational poverty and sparked a love for orphans and all who’ve
experienced loss.

Her deepest passion is to help women experience God’s
love and discover, embrace, and live out who they are in Christ. As the founder
of Wholly Loved Ministries, she travels with her team to various churches to
speak to women and help them experience the love and freedom only Christ can
offer. When not writing, editing, or speaking, you’ll likely find her chatting
with her friends or husband in a quiet, cozy coffeehouse. Visit her online at
JenniferSlatteryLivesOutLoud.com and connect with her and her Wholly Loved team
at WhollyLoved.com. You can also connect to her through Twitter and Facebook.